The Eds and Me
by All About That Hey Arnold
Summary: Kevin's cousins is new to school and he warns her to stay away from the Eds. What was so wrong about the Eds? Why should she stay away from them? And will she even listen to her cousin's warning?
1. Chapter 1

Being the new kid kind of sucked. Okay, it totally sucked. Not knowing anyone sucked, but at least there was one person I knew. My cousin, Kevin. We didn't always see eye to eye since I was a year younger and always wanted to hang out with his friends. When we were little, he would tell me to find my own friends cause he didn't want me to steal his. But I didn't steal his friends, they hardly knew who I was. I used to live far away from Peach Creek, so only in the summer would I visit my cousin. I wish he would have spent more time with me so I'd have someone to hang out with at this new school.

After getting a new job, my mother decided it was time to move to Peach Creek so we could be closer to our family. So, there I was. Imagine this; A girl, a short girl at that, all by herself. Her usual un-tamable curly red hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, a new backpack, her nails chewed to stubs. She wanted to fit in, she wanted to have the confidence to go inside. She stood outside the door, out of the way of students going in. A boy knocks into her and she ends up dropping her new notebooks and folders.

That girl was me and this was happening right now. The boy hadn't even stopped to help, didn't say sorry either. It wasn't that I let people push me around, there was nothing I could do at the moment. I scramble to pick up my things before someone steps on them. "Here, let me help," a blonde girl gets on her knees to help. People around us tell her to move out of their way but she doesn't listen. "I'm Nazz." She smiles and hands me my things. Nothing is damaged, that's good. "Noelle," I say softly.

She tells me to follow her inside and I do, she's the only one that has been nice to me so far. "So, Noelle, what brings you to Peach Creek High?" We make our way through the crowded hall, avoiding the slow walkers and the people that stop to talk to their friends.

"Mom got a new job, my cousin goes here."

"Cousin? Do I know them?"

"His name is Kevin." I pull back a piece of hair that has fallen out of my ponytail. "You might know him, from what I heard he's pretty popular."

"He's my best friend. He knows you're here, right? We should go find him!" I just nod and follow her around. "Are you always this quiet?"

"Oh, uh, no. I'm just really nervous."

"Just be yourself, you'll fit right in."

I nod. "Uh, yeah. Um, I'm trying. I just get really nervous around new things."

She gives me a reassuring smile, I smile back without realizing it. We make a turn and walk down a less clustered hall, a few people were here and there but the groups were as big as the ones in the main hall. Maybe this was where the cool kids met before class, it would explain the small amount of students around. Or maybe they just thought it was a cool place to hang out and socialize with friends. As we walk down the hall, three boys pass by, one looked up to no good, another looked nervous, and the other looked like his mind was somewhere else. "They're the Eds," Nazz muttered, she must have seen me look at them.

I just nod and look in front of me. "Hey, Nazz! Noelle?" Kevin's leaning against a locker, looking like his usual cool self. "I didn't know you were coming today," he meets us in front of a classroom. "You know where you're goin'?" He puts an arm around my shoulder, his attempt at a hug. Before I can answer, he's talking again. "There's a few people I want you to stay away from, you don't want to become a dork." He turns us around so we're facing the way Nazz and I came from. "The Eds are dorks, no hanging out with them. And the Kankers are trouble, so no hanging out with them. Besides them, there's no one else to worry about."

What if I wanted to hang out with these people? Well, maybe not the troublesome people. But the Eds didn't seem all that bad, but I knew that Kevin wouldn't like it. I just nod, I guess I had to do what he says. He's only looking out for me, right? We socialize some more before the bell rings, I'm by myself again once it does. No one asks if I know where I'm going, they just avoid running into me. I move so I'm against the hall, I'd wait until the hall was clear so I could take my time to find my class. Kevin had said that he needed to get to class on time or he'd get detention, Nazz left without asking if I knew where I was going. So there I was, acting like I could disappear into the wall.

The bell rings once again and the hall is almost completely empty. I let out a breath and begin to walk down the hall. It was okay for me to be late because I was new, right? I didn't want to get in trouble on my first day but this schedule was a bit confusing. How was I supposed to find A203? I bite my lip and look around, everyone is gone now. Fuck.

About five minutes later, I make it to my first class. The door is locked so I knock. I already knew people would stare, it was only natural for people to stare at the new girl. I just wish I wasn't so late. The teacher, a young blonde, opens the door and smiles. "You must be Noelle."

I nod and look at the class. The Eds are there, the boys that Kevin told me not to talk to. Maybe I shouldn't listen to Kevin, they couldn't be that bad. Could they?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The day wasn't all that bad, I couldn't complain much. Even though I was late to some of my classes, I was excused and greeted with a smile from every teacher. Fitting in wasn't as hard as I thought, most of the kids were open to talk and greeted me as if they'd known me for years. I managed to stay away from the people Kevin warned me about, but I was still curious about the students I avoided. The school day was almost over, just one more class. During lunch, Nazz looked over my schedule and color coded classes using a highlighter. The classes in pink were in the A hallway, blue were in B, and green were in C. It made things so much easier.

My last class was in the C hallway, which seemed to be on the other side of the world. I managed to get there on time, just as the bell rang. I looked over the class before heading over to the teacher's desk. "Hello," I say softly, a small smile played on my lips. "I'm new, my name is Noelle."

"Ah, Noelle, nice to meet you," the teacher is young and blonde. "You can sit by Ed," her voice is soft and sweet, she probably gets pushed around by her students a lot. She seemed too soft spoken, she must get talked over. "Ed, raise your hand," she calls out to one of the Eds. This one has red hair and is the tallest of them all, he's not the brightest but he's the funniest.

Avoiding the Eds was impossible, they seemed to be everywhere. I had first period with all three, third with Eddy, fifth with Edd, and last period with Ed. Avoiding wasn't an option when you had to sit by one, we'd have to talk. Even though I was a year younger than the people around me, I was just as smart. I had skipped third grade and went straight to fourth. My parents were so proud, I was just glad that I was in the same grade as Kevin. Even if we didn't go to the same school, we could always call each other and ask for help. We used to be close like that, but not anymore. We were in a 'call only' friendship, Kevin didn't like when I hung around his friends.

But there was no way to avoid his friends, he knew just about everyone. If I wasn't allowed to be friends with the people he called friends, then I should be allowed to talk to whoever I chose. And I chose to talk to this Ed kid. I smiled as I sat, he returned the smile. He held text book, he turned it slightly to show me a comic book. I giggle softly. "You like comics? I knew this place back where I used to live and they had tons of comics." It wasn't too far away from this neighborhood.

"Really?" He got excited, the grin on his face grew. "Ed likes comic books."

"You refer to yourself in third person? That's rad."

"Ed likes to use names."

"Well, in that case, my name is Noelle."

"Noelle has a pretty name. Ed saw you with Kevin, you know Kevin?"

"Yeah, he's my cousin." I twirl some of my red hair between my fingers. "Red hair runs in the family." Mine was a shade lighter than my cousin's since my father was blond. "Mind if I check out what comic you're reading?"

"Ed would like something in return. How does Ed know if you're going to take his comic? Ed doesn't know you very well and Double D always warned Ed about new people. Ed does not think Noelle is a bad person, he just wants to trade."

"What does Ed want?"

"Ed likes surprises."

"Well, Noelle is full of surprises." I smirk and pull out a pen from my new back pack. "So, what I was talking about earlier, the comic store. We should go sometime. My treat since you're now my friend." I scribble my number on his hand and smile. "Call me whenever you'd like, just not too late at night. The next couple of weeks I'll be busy unpacking, but after all that I'm free to go to the comic store."

"Ed likes Noelle already," he grinned before handing me the comic. "Ed trusts Noelle."

"Noelle trusts Ed." I grin before taking the comic and checking it out.

Later that day, when I'm home, I threw my book bag down on the couch. It had turned out to be a pretty good day. Ed offered to walk me home, but Kevin insisted on walking with me. He warned me a million times that the Eds were nothing but trouble, but it was hard to believe him when I had spent so much time talking to one. Maybe Kevin was just out of his mind, maybe he was just be overprotective. Or both. "I'm home!" I call out to no one really, I knew my mom would be out.

Maybe I could go outside and see if anyone wanted to hang out. I hadn't managed to call anyone my friend besides Ed so I was hoping to get to know others around the cul-de-sac. If that didn't work, maybe I'd run into Ed. I walked right back out the door and down the steps. What to do, what to do.

"Hey cute thing," a short boy, who I realized was Eddy from the Eds, says. He was walking down the street with the other Eds. They just so happened to stop when I came out. I didn't know how to react to being called cute so I just waved. "Ed says you're Kevin's cousin, that must suck."

"It must suck being so short," I replied, I don't think I'm going to like this boy much. "Hey, Ed, wanna come inside? I think I know where the video games are. You too Double D."

The two boys look back at Eddy. "It would be rude not to accept her invitation," Double D said softly, he looked as if he was afraid of the shorter boy. Ed didn't think twice about it, he walked right up to me.

"Let's go Double D! Noelle said video games!"

"Fine, whatever," Eddy glares. "Go ahead and hang out with her. I'll go do something else."


End file.
